Cassidy's Past
Chapter 1 Cassidy’s POV Flashback “What… why?” I cried. “Why do I have to be separated from Émile?” “Because,” Mom simply said. “Your brother has caused us trouble. You need to be put under a witness protection programme, along with Dad and me.” Her eyes clouded and she said nothing else after that. Dad was quiet and said nothing. His face was pale and his eyes showed no emotion. The police lead us to a room. “We’ll be sending you to Kalos, where you will learn French,” a gruff-sounding officer told us. Smoke billowed from his slowly burning cigarette. “For the next three months, you will be learning French, to blend in.” “We’ll also be monitoring you twenty-four-seven,” another officer stated monotonously. “For six months. We’ll have an officer standing guard by your new home in Kalos.” “''What did my idiot brother do this time?” I thought, hissing to myself. ---00— '''Present' “Frère Jacques, frère Jacques, Dormez-vous, dormez-vous? Sonne les matines, sonne les matines…” I must have sung that same damn song fifty times. I groaned quietly, as so the French teacher didn’t hear me. Why I had to speak French, was beyond me. Many Kalos inhabitants spoke English, too. I had looked it up in an encyclopedia. I was slowly learning more and more about Kalos. The teacher then brought in a little bird Pokémon, a Fletchling. “Fletch-ling!” the bird said happily. “This is a Fletchling,” the elderly teach started. “It is called ‘Passerouge’ in French. Everyone repeat after me: Passerouge.” “Passerouge!” everyone in the class stated happily, except me. I was bored. “The beak is called le bec.” She pointed to the bird’s beak. She then proceeded to tell all the body parts of the small bird. I sighed. I wished the class was more fun than this! The bell then rang. Everyone, including me all shouted happily and we left the class, nearly running each other over. Thank God that that was done! “Emmaline!” a masculine-sounding voice called out to me. “Hmm?” I turned around. It was that cute kid that lots of girls talked about. “What is it? Augustine, right?” “''Oui, je suis'' Augustine. Emmaline, I was wondering if you wanted to go out on un rondez-vous.” “What! Why me?” I asked. “Why not someone more beautiful than I am?” “Why?” the black-haired teen asked. “Emmaline, tu es belle.” “That means… pretty, right?” “Oui.” The teen simply nodded. “It does mean ‘pretty’.” I looked at him and wasn’t sure what to say. I swore my face turned five shades of red. He had a worried look on his face, as if he had said something wrong. Other college students paid us no attention, and continued on their way. I shuffled my feet, trying not to collapse after what I had just heard. “But…” I started. “Why me? Why not someone else?” I watched an even prettier person walk by. A Dedenne was perched upon her shoulder. “Why not that lady with the Dedenne?” “No.” He shook his head. “She is not as beautiful as you are.” “Wow…” I continued to blush. “I’m going to go home now. I’m all done here.” I nodded. “My parents are expecting me any minute. Bye, Augustine.” “Au revoir, Emmaline.” Augustine nodded. I turned around and watched Augustine walk off. I sighed. “Well then…” I looked at all the people passing me. They seemed to be in their own world. They were either chatting with others, staring at their school work or just staring off into space; but Augustine by far was the only person in the whole school to even notice me right off the bat. I couldn’t believe someone actually took the time to notice me. It was a weird feeling. “I wonder why he decided to talk to me of all things.” I blushed slightly. I eventually made it to the outside of the building. Several students crowded around a crosswalk. I watched the light turn red while they all crossed at the same time. They eventually spread out and went their own separate ways. Augustine appeared to be amongst them. My new home wasn’t that far. It looked as if he were heading in the same direction. Is he a neighbour? I wondered. I ran across the street, barely in time. There was only two seconds left by the time I had made it across. “Augustine!” I called to him. “Oh, Emmaline! Bonjour!” he called back. I eventually reached him after a short burst of speed. “My home is just over there.” I pointed to the southwest. “I live that way too.” He nodded. “So you live on the same street as me, huh?” he asked, curious. “That’s interesting. Funny how we live on the same street.” “Ha-ha… yeah…” I blushed. “''Émile… What should I do?” I thought to myself. “''W-would you be okay with this?” “''Do what’s best in your heart, Cassidy.” I swore I heard his voice in my head. “''I live too far away to care what you do. But always, always know that I will love you no matter ''what ''you do. I have no idea what I will see you again, but if we do, let’s have dinner together, just as friends. Nothing else. Do what you’re want to. I too, have found someone that I love, but will never love her like I love you.” I swore his voice continued in my head. “''He would definitely say something like this. I wouldn’t doubt it at all.” I nodded. “''But what was that? His voice…? Where did that come from?” “Emma, mon amie? Are you there?” he asked, snapping me out of my reverie. “Oh, mm-hmm. Yes, I am here. I’m sorry, I was thinking about something. Want to come to my house for a little while? I got something to… tell you.” I blushed. Before we could ‘round the corner, I could hear familiar barking. It was Fluffy, coming to greet me, as usual! “What’s that?” he asked. “It sounds like a dog.” “He is ''a dog, in fact, he is Fluffy the Furfrou.” I smiled. I whistled loudly and the barking became more loud as he ran faster. “He greets me every day, after school.” Before I could say anything else, I could see Fluffy was nearly upon us. He stopped just before nearly knocking me down. He sat down and wagged his tail. I knelt down and started to pet his head. Augustine knelt down too, letting him sniff his hand. “Hmm… what’s that?” He pointed to Fluffy’s left foreleg. It was tiny, but a strange shade of dark red. “What’s… Huh?” I blinked. “It’s ''red.” I dabbed my finger into it, sniffing and licking it. This was a technique that Émile had taught me before we moved away. Blood has a unique taste and smell to it. “It-it… it has an iron-y taste to it! This isn’t paint, it’s blood!” “Not sure why you just licked it, but that ''is not good.” He had a strange look upon his face. I could see why. “I’m sorry I did that, it’s just a natural reaction to see whether it was blood or paint.” I shook my head in shame. “It’s something one of my friends used to do. He wants to be a detective someday. I hope he achieves his dream someday…” I muttered quietly, but he may have heard me. “''Excusez-moi.” I turned around and spat it out. “''Pardon'', I didn’t want that taste in my mouth in longer.” “''Ça va'', mon Cherie.” He nodded. “We should figure out why he has blood on his front leg.” I felt my stomach rumbling. “Crap, so hungry. I usually eat dinner just as soon as I get home, too.” “You go and get something to eat. I will follow Fluffy.” “Okay. I’ll be quick.” I turned my attentions to Fluffy. “Fluffy, lead Augustine to where you got that blood.” Fluffy barked and immediately started to run. Augustine nodded and began to run off to where Fluffy was heading. I quickly walked towards my house, which was less than a block away. I ran as fast as I could, nearly crashing into the front door. “Emma…?” Dad called out, opening the front door at the same time. “What happened?” It took a few seconds to catch my breath. “I found blood on Fluffy’s leg. I have a new friend, and he’s following Fluffy at the moment! I need to catch up to him. What have you made for dinner?” “W-what?” Dad questioned, biting back his snappy attitude. “We made Moules à la Marinière. Here, I’ll give you some.” I let myself in as Dad walked off towards the kitchen. I watched him grab a plastic bag and pick up some of the cooked mussel meat. It looked gross but smelled delicious at the same time. “Where’s Mom?” I asked. “She went out to get some more fruit and such for us,” he responded. “Did she take my Vespa?” I asked. “No. She walked, she wanted to get some exercise.” “Oh phew, thank goodness.” I sighed as Dad handed me the bag full of mussels. “Merçi, papa.” He nodded and smiled. “No problem. Go on now, catch up to Fluffy and your friend,” he said as he handed me a plastic fork. “See you,” I said while I walked away quickly. I looked at the mussels. It was vomit-inducing, but it smelled good. I was willing to eat anything at this point. I grabbed the plastic fork, stabbed some of it and shoved it into my mouth. “W-wow… this is actually really good!” I thought as I grabbed the keys for my Vespa. I sat down for a few minutes and ate quickly. “White wine, shallots, thyme, parsley, butter, peppercorns… all of those delicious flavours are there!” “EMMA…!” I heard a familiar voice calling out to me. “Augustine! Over here!” I called out, just as I was starting my scooter. “There you are!” he called out, racing up to me. I blushed slightly. “Erm… well this is awkward… want to get on?” “I can drive anything. I’ll drive it,” he offered. I nodded and got off, kicking the kickstand. “Now you hold onto me instead of the other way around. So it’s not embarrassing.” Despite what he said, he was blushing as well. “Y-you’re arousing me.” “Just shut up and let me get on, please,” I snapped, embarrassed. He scooted forward, just barely enough for me to fit. I kicked the kickstand. “Which way? How come Fluffy isn’t with you?” I wrapped my arms around his waist. “He ran off. I have no idea which way he went. I came back to try and tell you,” he stated as we began to move. “I had no idea you had a scooter, but now I’m hoping to find him with it.” He drove fast, but careful enough to avoid people and cars. He wove in between obstacles. “Holy sh –” He nearly gave me a heart attack! “—it. You’re scaring the bloody hell out of me! How on earth do you have a license to drive a car, let alone a bloody scooter! I’m going to kill you if you wreck it!” “I know what I’m doing,” he replied crossly, which surprised me. “Hmph. I hope you are.” I narrowed my eyes, even though he couldn’t look at me. “You’re going over the speed limit…” “Fine.” I felt the scooter going slower, and eventually coming to a stop. “This is where I saw him last.” I had no idea where we were, but it was definitely far away from my house. “W-where are we…?” “This is kind of the outskirts. People don’t really come here that much. It’s mostly houses.” “Oh, hmm… I see.” I nodded. “Shall we start looking?” “FLUFFY!” he called out. “Fluff…y…?” I was about to call out when he appeared from an alleyway. “W-what…” I heard Augustine gagging. It had to be the worst site I had ever seen… Fluffy’s face was covered in blood. “F-Fluffy… t-take us to where you found the blood,” I commanded, scared. Fluffy barked, whining and walking away slowly. “Fluff-y…y… W-what happened?” I was visibly shaken. “What in God’s name is going on?” Augustine was trying to keep from gagging. “I-I don’t know, but we need to find out… even though I’m too scared to…” “I don’t get scared often, but this has me on edge…” “You’re not shaking… you’re so much br-braver than I am…” Fluffy whined, sitting on his haunches. He barked, alerting us to whatever we were about to find. “It-it can’t be…! It’s a body…” It was a deceased person lying down on the ground. The body was already cold and stiff, no movement. I knew this person was dead for this reason. Blood was encircling the deceased’s mouth. “He… he was poisoned! I-I have a bad feeling that he was poisoned! Fluffy, we need to take you to a Pokémon Centre, ASAP!” “Go Emmaline, I’ll find a phone and call the police.” I nodded. “Okay. Tell them damn everything, so they don’t suspect us. I’ll be at the police station as soon as possible.” I grabbed Fluffy’s ball. “Return!” I called out as he vaporised into pure energy. “Bye Augustine, be careful.” “Bonjour, ma Cherie.” He waved. I started my Vespa, travelling as quickly as possible. “Fluffy… I’m going as fast as I can! We’ll make it!” ---00— In Hoenn “I’ve been watching this Cassidy, it’s amazing she hasn’t broken her character and revealed her identity yet. She’s grown in the past few months, her French is improving everyday.” “C-Cassidy… when I get the chance, I’ll see you…” Émile said to himself. “My friends are looking out for you. The police are looking out for you. Watch out Cassidy, I’ll be a detective soon. When I become a detective, I’ll look for you!” “You should look for her,” Jake the boss said to Émile. “I-I will!” He nodded. “Thanks, Jake!” “We got Kenda watching her. He’ll watch her every move to make sure something doesn’t happen to her.” Jake smiled. “You should be thanking Kenda, no me.” “Whenever I get the chance to meet him, I’ll tell him thank you, personally.” Tears starting running down Émile’s cheeks. I love you, Cassidy…